42
The search for the giant panda through Chinese historical records and ancient writings represented an interesting exercise. Nevertheless, no positive statement can be made that the Chinese had known about the giant panda before the pelt was brought to western attention.
Père David, it is safe to say, may continue to bask in glory as the discoverer of the giant panda for the whole world, including China.
baixiong 白熊 Bishan 璧山
Bishi 壁溪
GLOSSARY
Erya 爾雅
Li Shizhen 李時珍
Liaodong 遼東
Lolo 玀羅
Ming 明
mo 貘
Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修
pixiu 貔貅
Sima Qian 司馬遷 Sichuan 四川
Shandong 山東 Xuande 宣德 Wuding 武定
Yunglo 永樂
Yunnan 雲南
Zhou 周
zhouyu 州圉
Zhu Su 朱橚
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brightwell, L. R., "The Giant Panda, Its History in Ancient China and Modern Europe”, Field 187:497-498 (London, 1946)
David, Armand, "Journal d'un Voyage dans le centre de la Chine et dans le Thibet Oriental", Nouvelle Archives Musée Naturelle de Paris (Bulletins) 10:3-82 (Paris, 1874)
Fox, Helen (editor and translator), Abbé David's Diary, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1949.
Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368-1644, New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1976. Essay on Li Shih-chen (1518-1593) by L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, I:859-865.